Friday, 1 February 2013

February 1, 2013


Dear Parents,

AMIS International MS Band Festival: Mingalabar! That's how they greet each other in Yangon. We look forward to welcoming back our group from Myanmar The students are having a wonderful time exploring a little bit of local culture in the downtown area and were treated to a unique 'puppet show' which goes with Myanmar culture. The students are very busy with rehearsals and in making beautiful music, along with making friends from other international schools. Thank you to Mr. William Kumar for organizing this opportunity for our students.

Thank you to science/math department for the fabulous STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) event! Students were arranged into multi-grade level groups and will work together on two STEM activities. This was a wonderful whole middle school activity that had students working on their collaborative, critical thinking and problem solving skills. Well done!

Our middle school is very proud to recognize eighth-grader Daniel Bacheschi who has been chosen as one of three students across the entire Near East South Asia Organization (international schools in countries spanning from Egypt to Bangladesh) for the prestigious Stanley Haas/Luke Hansen Award.  NESA selected Daniel for this award because of the genuine interest he holds in helping others and his remarkable willingness to take risks and persist in things he sets out to do.  We are very proud of you, Daniel!  

The international teaching recruitment season continues, and as such I am schedule to attend the recruitment fair in Boston the week of February 4th for the recruitment of the remaining middle school teacher vacancies for the 2013-2014 school year.

From the High School Ecoclub -As of next February 8th, AISCH is taking a huge step in the right direction towards eco-friendliness! Paper cups will be stopped being distributed to all classrooms and water dispensers in the hallways.  This might require a slight adjustment for some of you students and teachers who rely on them during the day so that you can drink water.  NOTE that the water dispensers are not being taken away, only the paper cups will be.  The paper cups that are currently provided throughout the school are not recyclable and are only limitedly reusable.  AISCH uses over one million paper cups every year, needless to say paper cups contribute a huge amount to the waste our school produces. I am sure all of us believe in saving our Mother Earth. Students and teachers will need to bring their own water bottles.  If you do not have a water bottle, you can purchase one from the Eco-Club for Rs. 100 (Dalton, Anjali, Room number 3309). AISCH is excited to make its community more environmentally friendly, and can't wait for everyone to help! 

A reminder of our Middle School Parent Coffee on February 4th from 8:45-9:45 am in the Hall of Light. On the agenda we have: Advisory program - general overview as well as a sample activity from our current theme of honesty this will be a presentation from the MS Advisory committee (8:45-9:15). Followed by Study Skills:part 2. This is a follow-up from the session that was done in the fall and requested by parents (9:15-9:45). We hope that you can make it.

Grade 8 transition information session on High School credits and classes: Ms. Kendra Callaway, the High School Counselor, will do an information session for parents of 8th grade students to talk
about high school, credits, classes, etc. on Feb. 8 at 8:45 a.m.  in the Hall of Light. Ms. Kendra will also be meeting with grade 8 students the previous day, Feb. 7.  
Ms. Kendra Callaway (http://aischguidance.blogspot.com/)

Next week, we welcome Diane Stanley, an internationally acclaimed author and illustrator of more than fifty children’s books. Diane Stanley will have an assembly for 2nd-6th grade on Monday February 4th.  She will do a presentation on Authors Voice for the grade 6 students on Tuesday. Diane will do a presentation on Research and on Authors Voice Wednesday and Thursday to grade 7 students. Diane Stanley will do a presentation on Illustration for some of our art students on Tuesday. Additionally, Diane will have a Parent Coffee and Discussion in the Elementary cafeteria on Wednesday, February 6th, from 8:45-9:45. This is open to all parents.

Note that the Friendship dance scheduled on the community activity calendar for February 8th will be cancelled and in lieu of this event we have scheduled a pool party for March 15th from 4:30-6:30 pm. Please make the change on your AISC community calendar.

Math Consultant, Erma Anderson will be working with our math and science teachers during her week-long visit February 18-22. Erma will be working with our teachers focusing on our standards and further developing our units.  She will be offering a Parent Curriculum Coffee on February 19th will be a session with renowned math consultant Erma Anderson. The focus of this session will be AERO Math and the alignment to the Common Core. Curriculum Coffees are held from 8:45-9:45 am and 2:15-3:15 in the Hall of Light.

Please see notes from our Middle School Counselor, Ms. Trish by either clicking on the tab at the top of the page or by clicking on this link MS Counselor blog

Our middle school choir students will be joining the high school choir students for their HS Choir Winter Concert. This event is a SAISA preview for the high school students.  Our middle school choir students will perform a few numbers at this event. We encourage you to come out and enjoy the music on Feb. 14 in the Auditorium from 7 pm.

Math Counts Tournament Hosting: AISC will be hosting the Middle School Math Counts Tournament. We need families to host the participants from the various schools, from February 14 – 17. We have middle school students from Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Delhi, Nepal and Mumbai participating in the tournament. If you are interested in hosting please collect a form from Ms. Aziz in the middle school office, fill in the details and return it to the middle school office as soon as possible.

Celebrating our host nation – India Week (February 11-15)
During this week we encourage everyone to wear Indian outfits
The morning of Monday, February 11th, we have planned, with the help of Ms. Anu, a performance for our middle school students of Bharatanatyam dance by a professional group.
On Friday, February 15th, we have an Indian lunch which will be catered by the TMFK. The menu is as follows: pooris, vegetable korma without coconut, vegetable pulao, vegetable cutlets, malai chicken tikka, vadams (rice flour crispies) and laddu (Indian sweet). Parents who do not want their children to have this meal are to send a packed lunch for the day.
In the afternoon, Ms. Trish with the help of staff and parents are organizing some Indian activities included in this is a student celebration India photo display. See the details below:
In celebration of India week, we will be holding a photo contest to give you the opportunity to display a your beautiful images of India and win some prizes!  There are 4 categories: Wildlife and Nature, Culture, People, and Places. Each student can submit up to 3 photos in each category (maximum of 12 photos). Information on where to deposit your photos electronically has been sent to your school gmail account. Submission deadline: Thursday 7th February. Make sure your file is of good quality. Poor quality photos will be disqualified.
* All photos submitted should have been taken by those submitting them!*


Have a joyous weekend,

Ms. Michele